Railway bogies

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a railway bogie comprising a bolster secured between two hollow section side frames, in which the bolster ends are flanged and each is welded around its edge to the surface of a mating aperture or recess in the inner side of the side frame. The bolster section is strengthened, at least in the area of the flange, by stiffening ribs. The recess may be constituted by either an integrally formed shoulder ring or a separate backing ring secured around the aperture. Depending on the weld classification required, this ring may be removed so as to expose the inner weld seal, a weld bead then being laid from the inside.

United States Patent Briggs Oct. 28, 1975 RAILWAY BOGIES 2,637,279 5/1953 Charlton et al. 105/206 A 3,338,183 8/1967 Boissier [75] Inventor- Henry Rotherham 3,405,653 10/1968 Cunningham 105/226 x England [73] Assignee: British Steel Corporation, London, im y EXaminr-J0hn J LOVC England Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Bacon & Thomas 22 Filed: une 21 1974 1 J 57 ABSTRACT [211 App! 48l759 This invention relates to a railway bogie comprising a bolster secured between two hollow section side [30] Foreign Application Priority Data frames, in which the bolster ends are flanged and each June 22, 1973 United Kingdom 29794/73 is Welded around its edge the surface of a mating aperture or recess in the inner side of the side frame. 52 C| 105/202; 105/2O6 R; 1O5/226 The bolster section is strengthened, at least in the area 51 Int. C1. B61F 05/00 of the flange by stiffening FM The recess may be 5 Field f Search n 105 /1 82 R 200, 206 A constituted by either an integrally formed shoulder 105 /202, 226 ring or a separate backing ring secured around the aperture. Depending on the weld classification required, 5 References Cited this ring may be removed so as to expose the inner UNITED STATES PATENTS weld seal, a weld bead then being laid from the inside.

1,731,510 v10/1929 Todd 105 202 11 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures US. Patent Oct.28, 1975 Sheetlof 3,915,095

FIG; 1.

U.S. Patent 0a. 28, 1975 Sheet 2 of3 3,915,095

U.S. Patent Oct. 28, 1975 Sheet 3 of3 3,915,095

RAILWAY BOGIES This invention relates to railway bogies, and in particular concerns the manner in which the bolster is secured to the side frames.

Bogies are usually fabricated from multi-part structures, i.e. the bolster is secured between two side frames. With this manner of fabrication the bolster ends are normally welded to the side frames and it is usual for the ends to be machined to fit into apertures which accommodate them. One particular form of construction of this I-I-frame type includes the use of hollow-section side frames which have co-axial apertures in their inner and outer walls, the bolster ends extending through these apertures and having annular machined areas which align with the side frame walls and are fillet welded to them.

With this form of construction there are high stress concentrations at the weld junctions and it .is an object of this invention to remove the weld from such an area of high nominal and dynamic stress to an area of lower stress.

From one aspect the present invention provides a method of securing a bolster between two hollowsection side frames in the construction of a railway bogie, in which the bolster ends are flanged and each is welded around its peripheral edge'to the surfaces of a mating aperture or recess in the inner wall only of the respective side frame.

The invention also provides a railway bogie comprising a bolster secured between two hollow-sectionside frames, in which the bolster ends are flanged, each of which has been welded around its peripheral edge to the surface of a mating aperture or recess in the inner side only of the respective side frame.

The peripheral edge of the flanged end may lie wholly within the inner wall of the side frame and it may be circular; the bolster section may be strengthened, at least in the area of the flange, by stiffening ribs.

An aperture may also be provided in the outer wall of each side frame in alignment with the inner aperture or recess.

The recess may be constituted by either an integrally formed shoulder ring or a separate backing ring secured within the side frame around the aperture. Depending on the weld classification required, this ring may be removed so as to expose the inner weld seal, a weld bead then being laid from the inside.

The whole assembly may be made from cast steel.

Thus, compared with the previous fabricated designs referred to the flanged end enables the weld to be made well away from the axis of the bolster ends, reducing stress concentration, and a through weld is made instead of a simple fillet weld. The structure more nearly represents that of a one-piece cast steel bogie.

The weight of the bogie is also reduced as compared with the through end design.

In order that the invention may be fully understood one embodiment thereof will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the bogie structure;

FIG. 2 is a sectional side elevation through A A in FIG. 1',

FIG. 3 is a detail of part of the weld junction shown in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is an axial section through B B in FIG. 2.

Referring now to FIG. 1 in the drawings, the bogie comprises a H-frame structure including a bolster 1 secured between two side frames 2. Two side bearers 3 are mounted on the bolster and lie on opposite sides of a .centre pivot 4 to which the carriage is secured. Two wheel and axle assemblies 5 are mounted in journal housings (not shown) adjacent the ends of the two side frames.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 to 4, the side frame 2 is of hollowed rectangular section and has circular apertures 7, 8 formed in its side walls. The aperture in the outer wall is provided to lighten the bogie and provide access as described below, whilst the inner aperture 8 is in the form of a machined recess providing, with an integrally cast backing ring or shoulder 9, location for the flanged end 10 of the bolster.

The bolster which is of hollow circular section (at least adjacent its ends) has a number of integral stiffening ribs 11- to add strength, particularly in the area of the flange.

The end surface 12 of the flanged end is machined so as to abut the shoulder, these two abutting surfaces governing the width'of the finished assembly and the peripheral edge 13 of this end is machined in like manner to the side frame providing a Vee-trough 14 for the weld (see FIG. 3).This trough preferably includes an angle of not less than 60 and a penetration land 15 is machined to enable the welding rod used to bottom on the ring.

The machined preparation for the weld provides both lateral positioning and longitudinal positioning, ensuring parallelism between the side frames.

The assembly is clamped together and the annular through weld (16) to the shoulder is laid down. This may be effected by moving the welding head around the trough or by rotating the whole assembly about the bolster arm axis relative to a stationary welding head.

After completion of the weld the shoulder may be machined off, e.g. by hand grinding, access being obtained through the aperture 7 and a bead weld may be laid on the inner side of the exposed through weld if desired.

As an alternative to the integrally cast ring or shoulder a separate pre-machined ring may be secured in place to provide location. This may be removed afterwards as before.

Although this invention has been described with reference to the particular embodiment illustrated, it is to be understood that various modifications may readily be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, complete positional stability for assembly welding may be achieved by providing a key slot or like locking feature on the mating machined surfaces to prevent relative rotation between the bolster ends and the side frames. This will ensure that the side frames lie in the same horizontal plane. This mode of location could be ensured by the use of a noncircular bolster flange and side frame aperture but this would complicate machining problems.

I claim:

1. A railway bogie comprising two hollow-section side frames each defining an aperture in one side and spaced apart with the apertured sides facing one another;

a bolster terminating in flanges extending transversely of the longitudinal axis of the bolster, said bolster being secured between the said sides of the side frames by the flanges having been welded around their peripheral edge to the mating surface of the associated aperture in the side frames.

2. A bogie according to claim 1, wherein the peripheral edge of each flanged end lies wholly within the associated aperture in the side frames.

3. A bogie according to claim 2, wherein the periphery of each flanged end of the bolster is circular.

4. A bogie according to claim 3, wherein the side frames each define, in alignment with the said aperture in their one side, an aperture in their other side.

5. A bogie according to claim 2, comprising a shoulder ring extending around the aperture within each side frame, by which a recess is constituted.

6. A bogie according to claim 3, wherein the bolster is strengthened, at least in the area of the flange, by stiffening ribs.

7. A method of securing a bolster between two hollow-section side frames in the construction of a railway bogie, said bolster having ends terminating in flanges extending transversely of the longitudinal axis of the bolster, in which the flanged ends of the bolster are each welded around their peripheral edges to the surfaces of the boundary walls of a mating aperture in the inner wall only of the respective side frame.

8. A method according to claim 7, wherein each aperture is constituted by a shoulder ring extending around the aperture within the side frame, in which after the welds have been completed, the ring is removed so as to expose the weld seal, a weld bead then being laid on this sea] from the inside.

9. A method of securing a bolster between two hollow-section side frames each having an aperture in the side thereof facing the other side frame in the construction of a railway bogie, said bolster having ends terminating in flanges extending transversely of the longitudinal axis of the bolster, comprising the steps of assembling a side frame against each end of the bolster with an end flange of the bolster disposed within the aperture in the inner side of the respective side frame; and fixedly securing the inner sides of the side frames to the flanged ends of the bolster by welding the flanged ends of the bolster around their peripheral edges to the adjacent surface of the boundary wall of the respective inner side wall aperture.

10. A method according to claim 9 wherein a shoulder ring forming a stop for a flange at the end of the bolster extends around the aperture within each side frame, and including the steps of removing the shoulder ring from within each side frame to expose the weld and laying a weld bead onto the exposed weld within the side frames.

11. A railway bogie comprising; two hollow-section side frames each defining an aperture in one side and spaced apart with the apertured sides facing one another; a bolster having flanged ends, the peripheral edge of each flanged end lying wholly within the associated aperture of the respective side frame, said bolster being secured between the said sides of the side frames by the flanges having been welded around their peripheral edge to the mating surface of the associated aperture in the side frames. 

1. A railway bogie comprising two hollow-section side frames each defining an aperture in one side and spaced apart with the apertured sides facing one another; a bolster terminating in flanges extending transversely of the longitudinal axis of the bolster, said bolster being secured between the said sides of the side frames by the flanges having been welded around their peripheral edge to the mating surface of the associated aperture in the side frames.
 2. A bogie according to claim 1, wherein the peripheral edge of each flanged end lies wholly within the associated aperture in the side frames.
 3. A bogie according to claim 2, wherein the periphery of each flanged end of the bolster is circular.
 4. A bogie according to claim 3, wherein the side frames each define, in alignment with the said aperture in their one side, an aperture in their other side.
 5. A bogie according to claim 2, comprising a shoulder ring extending around the aperture within each side frame, by which a recess is constituted.
 6. A bogie according to claim 3, wherein the bolster is strengthened, at least in the area of the flange, by stiffening ribs.
 7. A method of securing a bolster between two hollow-section side frames in the construction of a railway bogie, said bolster having ends terminating in flanges extending transversely of the longitudinal axis of the bolster, in which the flanged ends of the bolster are each welded around their peripheral edges to the surfaces of the boundary walls of a mating aperture in the inner wall only of the respective side frame.
 8. A method according to claim 7, wherein each aperture is constituted by a shoulder ring extending around the aperture within the side frame, in which after the welds have been completed, the ring is removed so as to expose the weld seal, a weld bead then being laid on this seal from the inside.
 9. A method of securing a bolster between two hollow-section side frames each having an aperture in the side thereof facing the other side frame in the construction of a railway bogie, said bolster having ends terminating in flanges extending transversely of the longitudinal axis of the bolster, comprising the steps of assembling a side frame against each end of the bolster with an end flange of the bolster disposed within the aperture in the inner side of the respective side frame; and fixedly securing the inner sides of the side frames to the flanged ends of the bolster by welding the flanged ends of the bolster around their peripheral edges to the adjacent surface of the boundary wall of the respective inner side wall aperture.
 10. A method according to claim 9 wherein a shoulder ring forming a stop for a flange at the end of the bolster extends around the aperture within each side frame, and including the steps of removing the shoulder ring from within each side frame to expose the weld and laying a weld bead onto the exposed weld within the side frames.
 11. A railway bogie comprising; two hollow-section side frames each defining an aperture in one side and spaced apart with the apertured sides facing one another; a bolster having flanged ends, the peripheral edge of each flanged end lying wholly within the associated aperture of the respective side frame, said bolster being secured between the said sides of the side frames by the flanges having been welded around their peripheral edge to the mating surface of the associated aperture in the side frames. 